[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15645-15646]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              WOMEN'S SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP ACT OF 2015

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I have introduced, along with Senator 
Vitter and Senator Shaheen, a bill that we believe will help break the 
glass ceiling women entrepreneurs face in this country.
  This month is National Women's Small Business Month. Throughout the 
month, the important contributions women entrepreneurs make to keep the 
economy growing will be highlighted. According the U.S. Small Business 
Administration, SBA, women-owned businesses are growing three times 
faster than their counterparts. Today, there are more than 10 million 
women-owned businesses across our country. They provide more than 23 
million jobs and are expected to provide another five million 
additional jobs by 2018. In addition, one-third of all women-owned 
businesses are now owned by minorities.
  It is clear that we need to be investing more in our women-owned 
small businesses. That is why the legislation I am introducing today 
would help ensure that the next generation of women small business 
owners can get the training and counseling they need to turn their 
ideas into realities.
  This legislation would reauthorize the SBA's Women's Business 
Centers, WBCs, program for the first time since 1999. I am very pleased 
we were able to raise the authorized funding level for this critical 
counseling program to $21.7 million annually. Although the number of 
women entrepreneurs has continued to grow, funding for WBCs has 
remained flat for many years.
  Last year, when I was chair of the Senate Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship Committee, we took a hard look at actions necessary to 
propel women's entrepreneurship forward and introduced legislation that 
addressed three components necessary to unlock their success--
increasing access to federal contracts, increasing access to capital, 
and improving the training and counseling programs that support them. 
It became very clear that women all over the country agree that the 
Congress must take these additional steps.
  As Chair, I also issued a report, ``21st Century Barriers to Women's 
Entrepreneurship,'' which demonstrated the need for the policy changes 
we seek in this legislation.
  I am pleased to say that on October 14, one of those goals will be 
achieved. The Small Business Administration has finalized sole-source 
authority for the women's procurement program--bringing the program and 
the women it serves in line with other Federal contracting programs. 
This will result in increased access to Federal contracts for women.
  The bill I introduced addresses another finding in the report which 
called for expanding training and counseling for women entrepreneurs. 
It does this by reauthorizing the SBA's Women's Business Center, WBC, 
program, which provides critical counseling, training, and other 
assistance to women, particularly in socially and economically 
disadvantaged communities. I cannot think of a better investment than 
one that helps women who want to create jobs and contribute to the 
economy. Women's Business Centers also provide important business 
counseling and training to underserved minority entrepreneurs.
  The need is greater than we knew last year. Since the Survey of 
Business Owners, published by the Census Bureau, was released this 
summer, a greater number of women have started businesses. The latest 
preliminary data showed that there are nearly 10 million women-owned 
firms in the United States. This is a 27 percent increase from the 
survey's last iteration in 2007 and a 50 percent increase in only a 
decade. Women-owned businesses generate more than $1.6 trillion in 
revenue.
  The report we issued last year showed that women entrepreneurs 
benefit from the customized business training and counseling Women's 
Business Centers provide to help level the playing field in starting 
and growing a small business. The majority of women-owned businesses 
are still under $24,999 in revenues. Women entrepreneurs receive only 4 
percent of all commercial loan dollars, 17 percent of SBA loans, and 
4.2 percent of venture capital--so there is plenty of work to be done.
  It is astonishing to me that more than 100 Women's Business Centers 
around the country are expected to serve this growing group of 
entrepreneurs. Women-owned small businesses generate needed income. 
According to a study released by the Association for Enterprise 
Opportunity, AEO, ``microbusinesses can be vital for income and wealth 
creation in underserved communities. In 2010, for instance, female-
headed family households in which at least one person owned a 
microbusiness generated $8,000 to $13,000 more in annual household 
income than similar households without a business owner.'' For low-
income households, this additional income is a path toward prosperity. 
The report goes on to say, ``the median net worth of business owners is 
almost two and a half times greater than that of non-business owners.''
  Liz Jamieson, Director of the Washington Center for Women in 
Business, a WBC in Lacey, WA, explains why we need to increase support 
for Women's Business Centers. ``Since our inception in 2013, the 
Washington Center for Women in Business has coached and supported over 
400 women entrepreneurs, to help them start, grow or scale up their 
companies. We've also provided training and business skills development 
to over 1000 entrepreneurs in the same time frame. Our center would not 
exist without the partnership of the SBA. Even so, our center serves 34 
of the 39 counties in Washington State, and two staff people can only 
do so much, although they do an extraordinary job and we get rave 
reviews. This legislation will empower us to empower far more 
entrepreneurs from all over our state, and to help them grow their 
businesses and create more jobs.''
  The legislation enjoys broad support by a number of key national 
organizations that support women business owners. The Association of 
Women's Business Centers, AWBC, Women Impacting Public Policy, WIPP, 
and the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, AEO, believe the 
changes we are proposing in this legislation are necessary to make this 
program open to more women.
  In closing, I would like to thank my colleagues who have cosponsored 
this legislation. I also want to commend

[[Page 15646]]

Chairman Vitter and Ranking Member Shaheen of the Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship Committee for their hard work and dedication to 
assisting women entrepreneurs succeed. I urge my colleagues to support 
this legislation.

                          ____________________